DEI grew out of civil rights law. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned job discrimination, and Executive Order 11246 in 1965 required federal contractors to take affirmative action. Corporate diversity training expanded in the 1980s and 1990s. After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many companies and universities created DEI offices and set new hiring goals.
The backlash followed quickly. In 2023, the Supreme Court ended race-conscious college admissions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. That year, Florida and Texas passed laws banning DEI offices at public universities. In January 2025, President Trump signed executive orders ending federal DEI programs and revoking Executive Order 11246.
Critics argue DEI programs divide people by race or replace merit with identity. Supporters say the programs address documented discrimination, such as hiring bias found in résumé studies. Research on mandatory diversity trainings shows mixed results on their own. ARD's view is that the goal of DEI, fair access and equal treatment, is required by civil rights law, and that structural changes matter more than trainings alone.